Need someone to do digital animation FX

D

David W. Richardson

Chapelgrove Films
For my current feature film -- the unique suspense/drama 'Tangled Web' -- I need a rather unique effect. And I need someone who can do it for me, as I could never learn to do it myself.

I need to simulate a PC desktop, complete with icons. I would just do a screen capture of a Windows desktop, but I'm concerned about copyright/licensing issues. So I need a graphic created that LOOKS like a PC desktop, but everything on it is original -- including the various 'application' icons. Actually, I need two distinctly different such 'desktops'.

And I need something more. I need some animation thrown into the mix. Things like the mouse pointer moving, clicking on an icon, opening up a 'video chat' window, and maximizing that window. I need to be able to composite my video into these 'video chat' windows.

For people with skills, this is probably not all that hard. For me, it's a brain-buster.

Soooo......anybody willing to lend a hand? It's a deferred-pay project, but we have (I believe) an excellent chance of getting distribution, if for no other reason than the unique nature of the way the movie is done. (The entire story is seen from the POV of various people's PC webcams.)

PM me if you're interested. Thanks!
 
If you just need what's on-screen, not a 3d Render of the monitor, keys, etc - Flash would be a very easy way to accomplish this.

(There's likely way more advanced flash users than AE or 3d people, too). The things you need would be very simple; I'd guess the toughest part would be good graphic design of your icons, etc. (There are huge libraries of windows vista style icons out there, some free, more very affordable).

Flash files could be filmed on an LCD display, or output as quicktime/whatever and added in post. (Current Flash really outputs to QT much better than previous versions).

Wish I had time to help, but I am buried! Also, if events on your screen need to relate to things your talent is doing, you'll really want to have it all nailed down.

I'd check Guru.com and other freelance sites; there are literally thousands of Flash artists out there, and this would likely be considered a pretty simple project.
 
What is your time frame and what are the output specs? I'm in advanced motion graphics now and the course load is tough but I might be able to help out if it's not needed immediately.

Also is this a close POV or will it be composited onto a monitor screen?
 
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restaf99, my time frame is by the end of February.

I guess you'd call this POV. In other words, the entire TV screen will LOOK like it's a computer screen. You won't SEE the monitor that the desktop is being displayed on. Does that help any at all?
 
David, go over to Stardock.com and look at windowblinds. They are windows skins and GUI customization. They actually do custom OS interfaces for shows/movies that need generic but real looking interfaces. it's been a while since I read what they actually created screens for, but it's like when you see a computer screen on "24" but it isnt an actual OS. They have TONS of user created skins, but check licensing on them. As they are generally made for fun and not profit, if you contact a creator and mention you want to use it in a low-budget project, I'm sure they'd give you the rights.

Here's a gallery of skins:
http://wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?libid=1
 
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